The murder trial of a teenager accused of fatally shot and killed Santa Fe High School basketball star Fedonta “JB” White at a party in August 2020 has been postponed to May.
District Judge T. Glenn Ellington on Wednesday approved defense attorney Dan Marlowe’s motion for more time to conduct witness interviews in the case of Estevan Montoya, now 18 years old. Marlowe also cited concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
Montoya is charged with first degree murder, manipulation of evidence, illegally carrying a pistol by a person under the age of 19, and negligent use of a deadly weapon. He is alleged to have shot and killed 18-year-old White on August 1, 2020 outside a house in Chupadero, where a nightly gathering quickly turned into an alcohol-driven party attended by dozens of young people, many of whom are witnesses.
Prosecutors are calling for adult sanctions against Montoya, who was 16 years old at the time of the shooting.
Marlowe said Montoya shot White in self-defense when the much taller boy – a popular student athlete who graduated from high school early and planned to play basketball for the University of New Mexico – pursued him after a brief fight.
Marlowe requested that Montoya’s trial be moved to Los Alamos, where the attorney argued that he was more likely to get a fair trial, but Ellington denied the request in March.
The jury selection in Montoya’s case was scheduled for October. The trial is now scheduled for the first two weeks in May.
Marlowe also filed in August for Montoya to use the New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender to undergo a government-funded examination and expert opinion from a psychologist or psychiatrist.
In the motion, Marlowe argues that Montoya witnessed the death of his friend Ivan Perez just weeks before he is accused of killing White. Perez’s death may have caused psychological trauma to the teenager and a psychiatric evaluation was “critical” to his defense, the lawyer wrote in the motion.
Montoya cannot afford to hire an expert in the field, Marlowe added.
“Due to the number of witnesses, the preliminary hearings and this request, it will likely violate the current trial date,” Marlowe said at the hearing on Wednesday.
Ellington approved the application on Wednesday, allowing Marlowe to request services for Montoya from the public defender’s office, but the agency has yet to determine if Montoya is qualified for penniless resources.
The hearing in the Montoya case took place on Wednesday, the day after prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges against 18-year-old Mario Guizar-Anchondo, who was charged with the murder of Perez.
The motion states that prosecutors do not have enough evidence to pursue the case and must send it back to the Santa Fe Police Department for further investigation.
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